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Tag: Country Blues

  • Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – Raise A Little Hell

    Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band – Raise A Little Hell

    Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band: Country Blues Fire From Brown County, Indiana

    If you’ve never had the good fortune of stumbling across Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band, now’s the time to fix that. Hailing from the hills of Brown County, Indiana, this three-piece powerhouse is a throwback to the raw, foot-stomping energy of American country blues — but with a fire all their own.

    At the heart of the band is Reverend Peyton himself, a larger-than-life figure wielding resonator guitars like weapons of joy and rebellion. Backed by his wife Breezy Peyton on washboard (yes, washboard!) and Max Senteney on drums (sometimes using a five-gallon bucket), the band puts on a show that’s part juke joint, part revival, and 100% authentic.

    The Spirit of Country Blues, Supercharged

    What sets the Big Damn Band apart is how deeply rooted they are in the old-school Delta blues tradition — but they don’t just copy the past, they live it and breathe it in their own way. Reverend Peyton is a fingerpicking monster, playing with a grit and soul that would make the ghosts of Charley Patton and Son House sit up and take notice.

    But this isn’t museum-piece music. It’s alive, loud, and unapologetically rowdy.

    Raise a Little Hell: A Modern-Day Rebel Yell

    One of the band’s standout tracks, Raise a Little Hell, is an anthem of defiance and blue-collar fury. With its pounding rhythm, razor-sharp guitar work, and Breezy’s ferocious washboard attack, the song is a call to arms — not in a political sense, but in a spiritual one. It’s about fighting for your soul in a world that wants to grind it down.

    From the first line, Reverend Peyton’s growl grabs you by the collar, and by the time the chorus hits, you’ll be clapping your hands and stomping your boots whether you want to or not.

    “If you gotta go to work, raise a little hell first.”

    Simple. True. And impossible not to shout along with.

    Why They Matter

    In an age when so much music is polished and produced to death, Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band reminds us of the power of raw talent, passion, and a deep love for the roots of American music. They’re road warriors — playing hundreds of shows a year — and you can feel that energy in every note.

    They’re not just keeping the blues alive — they’re setting it on fire.

    So if you haven’t yet, do yourself a favor: cue up Raise a Little Hell, crank it up loud, and let it rip. Just don’t be surprised if you find yourself dancing like you’re in a Mississippi juke joint — or banging on your kitchen sink like it’s a drum.

    Because that’s what the Big Damn Band does — they remind us that music isn’t just something to listen to. It’s something to feel.

    🎶 Have you seen Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band live? What’s your favorite track? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
    📌 Don’t forget to share this post if you’re ready to raise a little hell!

    Thank You

    We appreciate your time and dedication to reading our article. For more of the finest blues guitar music, make sure to follow our Facebook page, “I Love Blues Guitar”. We share exceptional selections every day. Thank you once again for your continued support and readership.

  • Son House – John the Revelator

    Son House – John the Revelator

    Son House

    House was born in Riverton, a town near Clarksdale, Mississippi, being the middle brother of 17. At the age of eight, and after the separation of his parents, he moved to Tallulah, Louisiana, with his mother. During his teens, he wanted to become a Baptist preacher, starting at age fifteen. Inspired by the work of Willie Wilson, House was drawn to the blues, despite opposition from the Church about this musical style because of the sins that surrounded him, beginning to play guitar in the mid-1920s. until 1942 in Robinsonville, Mississippi, with musicians such as Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Robert Johnson, Fiddlin ‘Joe Martin and Leroy Williams.

    After murdering a man, in alleged self-defense for him, he spent time in the Mississippi State Prison, during the years 1928 and 1929.

    Son House made recordings in 1930 for the record company Paramount Records and for Alan Lomax (belonging to the Library of Congress) in 1941 and 1942. He later disappeared from the music scene until the 1960s (a period characterized by the resurgence of country blues). , when, after a search by Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro in the Mississippi Delta region, it was “rediscovered” in 1964 in Rochester, New York, where it had lived since 1943; House was retired from the music scene and working for the New York Central Railroad, being completely oblivious to the international enthusiasm that reigned for the reissue of his early recordings. Due to this, he began a series of musical tours through the United States and Europe, made recordings for the CBS company. Like Mississippi John Hurt, he performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, at the New York Folk Festival in 1965, on the 1970 summer European tour with Skip James and Bukka White, and at the Montreux Jazz Festival there. same year.

    The last years of his life were characterized by the disease, retiring again from the music scene in 1974, moving to Detroit, Michigan, where he would reside until his death due to laryngeal cancer. He was buried at Mt. Hazel Cemetery. Members of the Detroit Blues Society held a series of benefit concerts to raise money to build a statue at the Son House tomb.

    Musical style and influation.

    The innovative musical style of House is characterized by using strong, marked and repetitive rhythms, together with a way of singing that recalls the laments of the chain gang (groups of prisoners). House greatly influenced Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, the latter being the one who would bring House’s music to other audiences; It was precisely House who, in a conversation with fans in the 1960s, expanded the legend that Johnson had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for being able to play the guitar masterfully. House has influenced current musicians like White Stripes, who performed a cover of their song “Death Letter” on the album “De Stijl”, performing that song at the 2004 Grammy Awards ceremony. The White Stripes also incorporated sections from the traditional Son House song “John the Revelator” to the song “Cannon” from their album “The White Stripes”.

    blues music t-shirts

  • Son House – John the Revelator (Charlie Beale Remix)

    Son House – John the Revelator (Charlie Beale Remix)

    Love it or hate it Son House “John the Revelator” remixed with chill-out sounds by Charlie Beale. Not my style at all, but maybe it is the way to introduce blues music to younger people.

    Son House

    House was born in Riverton, a town near Clarksdale, Mississippi, being the middle brother of 17. At the age of eight, and after the separation of his parents, he moved to Tallulah, Louisiana, with his mother. During his teens, he wanted to become a Baptist preacher, starting at age fifteen. Inspired by the work of Willie Wilson, House was drawn to the blues, despite opposition from the Church about this musical style because of the sins that surrounded him, beginning to play guitar in the mid-1920s. until 1942 in Robinsonville, Mississippi, with musicians such as Charley Patton, Willie Brown, Robert Johnson, Fiddlin ‘Joe Martin and Leroy Williams.

    After murdering a man, in alleged self-defense for him, he spent time in the Mississippi State Prison, during the years 1928 and 1929.

    Son House made recordings in 1930 for the record company Paramount Records and for Alan Lomax (belonging to the Library of Congress) in 1941 and 1942. He later disappeared from the music scene until the 1960s (a period characterized by the resurgence of country blues). , when, after a search by Nick Perls, Dick Waterman and Phil Spiro in the Mississippi Delta region, it was “rediscovered” in 1964 in Rochester, New York, where it had lived since 1943; House was retired from the music scene and working for the New York Central Railroad, being completely oblivious to the international enthusiasm that reigned for the reissue of his early recordings. Due to this, he began a series of musical tours through the United States and Europe, made recordings for the CBS company. Like Mississippi John Hurt, he performed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, at the New York Folk Festival in 1965, on the 1970 summer European tour with Skip James and Bukka White, and at the Montreux Jazz Festival there. same year.

    The last years of his life were characterized by the disease, retiring again from the music scene in 1974, moving to Detroit, Michigan, where he would reside until his death due to laryngeal cancer. He was buried at Mt. Hazel Cemetery. Members of the Detroit Blues Society held a series of benefit concerts to raise money to build a statue at the Son House tomb.

    Musical style and influation.

    The innovative musical style of House is characterized by using strong, marked and repetitive rhythms, together with a way of singing that recalls the laments of the chain gang (groups of prisoners). House greatly influenced Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson, the latter being the one who would bring House’s music to other audiences; It was precisely House who, in a conversation with fans in the 1960s, expanded the legend that Johnson had sold his soul to the devil in exchange for being able to play the guitar masterfully. House has influenced current musicians like White Stripes, who performed a cover of their song “Death Letter” on the album “De Stijl”, performing that song at the 2004 Grammy Awards ceremony. The White Stripes also incorporated sections from the traditional Son House song “John the Revelator” to the song “Cannon” from their album “The White Stripes”.
    Now, for comparison, and calming the original version. Good old Delta Blues…

    Son House – John the Revelator
    Son House – John the Revelator

    blues music t-shirts

  • Lonnie Johnson – It’s Too Late To Cry Baby

    Lonnie Johnson – It’s Too Late To Cry Baby

    Lonnie Johnson

    Lonnie Johnson plays It’s Too Late to Cry Baby. Taken from the American Folk Blues Festival: The British Tours recorded in England.

    The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe. It was an annual event for several years beginning in 1962. It introduced audiences in Europe, including the UK, to leading blues performers of the day. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson played on the festival. Most of them had never previously performed outside the US. The tours attracted substantial media coverage, including TV shows, and contributed to the growth of the audience for blues music in Europe.

    As a guitarist, Lonnie Johnson was ahead of his time. He had great playing technique and imagination, and his musical ideas were ahead of the time. He exerted a tremendous influence on his contemporary musicians, but even greater influence on future musicians. The list of musicians influenced by him includes such names as T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian, Big Bill Broonzy, Lowell Fulson, Sam Lightnin ‘Hopkins, Willie McTell, Henry Townsend, Albert King, B.B. King, Freddy King, Johnny Shines, Django Reinhardt and many more.

    Blues is a musical genre known as the folklore of African-American musicians. Its origins are associated with the southern states of the USA, that is the region conventionally called the “deep south”. The very name of the genre (sadness, despair) is related to its nostalgic form, also in the textual layer. Blues pieces touch male-female relationships as well as feelings and emotions (love, loneliness, faithfulness, jealousy). However, blues performers often sing about freedom, work and travel. The songs also feature social criticism relating mainly to racial inequality and political issues.

    Many artists are inspired by blues music and combine it with other styles. In this way, such musical mergers as punk blues, soul blues or blues rock. The popularity of this genre in the USA has led to the emergence of regional varieties, such as Louisiana, New Orleans, Texas and Detroit blues. There are also factions characteristic of other countries – British blues and African blues.

    You May Also Like

    We appreciate your time and dedication to reading our article. For more of the finest blues guitar music, make sure to follow our Facebook page, “I Love Blues Guitar”. We share exceptional selections every day. Thank you once again for your continued support and readership.

  • Reverend Gary Davis – I Heard the Angels Singing

    Reverend Gary Davis – I Heard the Angels Singing

    New DVD Harlem Street Singer – Reverend Gary Davis Story

    This rich portrait tells the story of Reverend Gary Davis, the great blues, ragtime and gospel musician. Tracing his journey from the tobacco warehouses of the rural South to the streets of Harlem, the film is a loving biography of an artist whose unique style and remarkable skills on the guitar made him an icon in 1960s New York and inspired a generation of musicians. Harlem Street Singer celebrates the beauty and spirituality of his music as well as the human qualities that made Reverend Davis a much beloved teacher and minister. Featuring performances and interviews with musicians he influenced and taught, including Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane, David Bromberg, Stefan Grossman, John Cohen, Happy Traum, Woody Mann, John Hammond, Roy Book Binder and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. This is the story of an American master whose legacy continues to live on in today’s music scene. This DVD contains over 2½ hours of previously unreleased material, including rare footage of the Reverend in concert in Montreal, as well as performances by John Cephas, David Bromberg, Jorma Kaukonen, Roy Book Binder, John Dee Holeman, and the Empire Roots Band featuring Bill Sims, Jr., Dave Keyes, Woody Mann and Brian Glassman. Additional interviews include many of the film’s main characters, plus outtakes from interviews with Peter Rowan, Ernie Hawkins, Tokio Uchida and Wavy Gravy. Audio recordings of Woody Mann’s guitar lessons and jams with the Reverend are also included.

    Harlem Street Singer – Shop Now

    Reverend Gary Davis - I Heard the Angels Singing

  • John Cephas and Phil Wiggins – Richmond Blues

    John Cephas and Phil Wiggins – Richmond Blues

    Tidewater Virginia blues musicians – guitarist John Cephas and harmonica player Phil Wiggins – play a version of Richmond Blues (circa 1989). Video is courtesy of Houseparty Productions, Takoma Park, Maryland.

    John Cephas and Phil Wiggins

    Cephas and Wiggins were known for playing acoustic Piedmont blues. This kind of blues is not as much celebrated as raw Delta Blues of Mississipi or electric Chicago Blues. Piedmont blues is jaunty and melodic, often with elements of ragtime and complex fingerpicking.

    Cephas and Wiggins were both born in Washington D.C. They first met at a jam session at the Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife in 1976 and played together in Wilbert “Big Chief” Ellis’s band. When Ellis died, they decided to continue as a duo.

    Their first U.S. release, the album Dog Days of August, was issued by Flying Fish Records in 1986. Two more albums followed from Flying Fish. After they left the label, they released one album for the New York-based Chesky Records and four albums for Alligator Records. They released the album Richmond Blues on Folkways Records in 2008.

    Until the late 1980s, Cephas made his primary living from carpentry, playing music on the side. In the 1990s, he became a professional musician, sometimes earning money by teaching classes and workshops.

    (source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephas_%26_Wiggins)

  • Lonnie Johnson – It’s Too Late To Cry Baby

    Lonnie Johnson – It’s Too Late To Cry Baby

    Lonnie Johnson – It’s Too Late To Cry Baby
    Lonnie Johnson – It’s Too Late To Cry Baby

    Lonnie Johnson

    Lonnie Johnson plays It’s Too Late to Cry Baby. Taken from the American Folk Blues Festival: The British Tours recorded in England.

    The American Folk Blues Festival was a music festival that toured Europe. It was an annual event for several years beginning in 1962. It introduced audiences in Europe, including the UK, to leading blues performers of the day. Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson played on the festival. Most of them had never previously performed outside the US. The tours attracted substantial media coverage, including TV shows, and contributed to the growth of the audience for blues music in Europe.

    As a guitarist, Lonnie Johnson was ahead of his time. He had great playing technique and imagination, and his musical ideas were ahead of the time. He exerted a tremendous influence on his contemporary musicians, but even greater influence on future musicians. The list of musicians influenced by him includes such names as T-Bone Walker, Charlie Christian, Big Bill Broonzy, Lowell Fulson, Sam Lightnin ‘Hopkins, Willie McTell, Henry Townsend, Albert King, B.B. King, Freddy King, Johnny Shines, Django Reinhardt and many more.

    Blues is a musical genre known as the folklore of African-American musicians. Its origins are associated with the southern states of the USA, that is the region conventionally called the “deep south”. The very name of the genre (sadness, despair) is related to its nostalgic form, also in the textual layer. Blues pieces touch male-female relationships as well as feelings and emotions (love, loneliness, faithfulness, jealousy). However, blues performers often sing about freedom, work and travel. The songs also feature social criticism relating mainly to racial inequality and political issues.

    Many artists are inspired by blues music and combine it with other styles. In this way, such musical mergers as punk blues, soul blues or blues rock. The popularity of this genre in the USA has led to the emergence of regional varieties, such as Louisiana, New Orleans, Texas and Detroit blues. There are also factions characteristic of other countries – British blues and African blues.

    Our quality blues t-shirts are perfect for your next music festival, concert or jam, and make great gifts.
    blues music t-shirts

  • Cephas & Wiggins Championed The Piedmont Blues

    Cephas & Wiggins Championed The Piedmont Blues

    Cephas & Wiggins Championed The Piedmont Blues

    At a young age Cephas discovered Piedmont Blues records and loved pretty … away in 2009 at age 78 and left proud legacy in Folk and Blues music… Read More

    Historical society pays tribute to late folk-blues musician

    Lead belly was so influential — a major force in the music world,” said Nolan. “The musicians are going to be performing his music and it’s a great way… Read More

     

  • Reverend Gary Davis – I Heard the Angels Singing

    Reverend Gary Davis – I Heard the Angels Singing

    Reverend Gary Davis – I Heard the Angels Singing
    Reverend Gary Davis – I Heard the Angels Singing

    New DVD Harlem Street Singer – Reverend Gary Davis Story

    This rich portrait tells the story of Reverend Gary Davis, the great blues, ragtime and gospel musician. Tracing his journey from the tobacco warehouses of the rural South to the streets of Harlem, the film is a loving biography of an artist whose unique style and remarkable skills on the guitar made him an icon in 1960s New York and inspired a generation of musicians. Harlem Street Singer celebrates the beauty and spirituality of his music as well as the human qualities that made Reverend Davis a much beloved teacher and minister. Featuring performances and interviews with musicians he influenced and taught, including Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane, David Bromberg, Stefan Grossman, John Cohen, Happy Traum, Woody Mann, John Hammond, Roy Book Binder and Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. This is the story of an American master whose legacy continues to live on in today’s music scene. This DVD contains over 2½ hours of previously unreleased material, including rare footage of the Reverend in concert in Montreal, as well as performances by John Cephas, David Bromberg, Jorma Kaukonen, Roy Book Binder, John Dee Holeman, and the Empire Roots Band featuring Bill Sims, Jr., Dave Keyes, Woody Mann and Brian Glassman. Additional interviews include many of the film’s main characters, plus outtakes from interviews with Peter Rowan, Ernie Hawkins, Tokio Uchida and Wavy Gravy. Audio recordings of Woody Mann’s guitar lessons and jams with the Reverend are also included.

    Harlem Street Singer – Shop Now

    Reverend Gary Davis - I Heard the Angels Singing

  • John Cephas and Phil Wiggins – Richmond Blues

    John Cephas and Phil Wiggins – Richmond Blues

    John Cephas and Phil Wiggins – Richmond Blues
    John Cephas and Phil Wiggins – Richmond Blues

    Tidewater Virginia blues musicians – guitarist John Cephas and harmonica player Phil Wiggins – play a version of Richmond Blues (circa 1989). Video is courtesy of Houseparty Productions, Takoma Park, Maryland.

    John Cephas and Phil Wiggins

    Cephas and Wiggins were known for playing acoustic Piedmont blues. This kind of blues is not as much celebrated as raw Delta Blues of Mississipi or electric Chicago Blues. Piedmont blues is jaunty and melodic, often with elements of ragtime and complex fingerpicking.

    Cephas and Wiggins were both born in Washington D.C. They first met at a jam session at the Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife in 1976 and played together in Wilbert “Big Chief” Ellis’s band. When Ellis died, they decided to continue as a duo.

    Their first U.S. release, the album Dog Days of August, was issued by Flying Fish Records in 1986. Two more albums followed from Flying Fish. After they left the label, they released one album for the New York-based Chesky Records and four albums for Alligator Records. They released the album Richmond Blues on Folkways Records in 2008.

    Until the late 1980s, Cephas made his primary living from carpentry, playing music on the side. In the 1990s, he became a professional musician, sometimes earning money by teaching classes and workshops.

    (source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephas_%26_Wiggins)